Short-course administration of a traditional herbal mixture ameliorates asthma symptoms of the common cold in children

Document Type : Original Research Article

Authors

1 Department of Pediatric. Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

2 Allergy Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

3 Department of Traditional Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.

4 Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Islamic Azad University of Medical, Mashhad, Iran.

Abstract

Objective: Asthma is an increasing chronic respiratory disease affecting over 300 million people worldwide. Several studies have shown that herbal remedies may improve asthma control and reduce asthma symptoms. In this study, the effects of short-course administration of an herbal mixture (ASMATUSTM) in asthmatic children during viral respiratory tract infection, were evaluated.
Materials and Methods: Forty-six children (7-12 years old) with intermittent asthma were enrolled in this double-blind randomized clinical trial. At the onset of common cold symptoms, the patients were randomly assigned to daily receive either the herbal mixture (comprised of Matricaria chamomilla, Althaea officinalis, Malva sylvestris, Hyssopus officinalis, Adiantum capillus-veneris, Glycyrrhiza glabra and Ziziphus jujube) or placebo for 5 days. Primary outcomes included day symptoms, night symptoms, and asthma attacks.  Secondary outcomes included Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (PEFR), the need for β-agonist administration, oral prednisolone usage, necessity for re-visit due to uncontrolled or insupportable symptoms, as well as the number of hospital admissions and days absent from school.
Results: the herbal mixture significantly decreased the severity of coughs (p=0.049) and nighttime awakenings (p=0.029) in comparison to placebo. There was no significant reduction in wheezing, tachypnea, respiratory distress, PEF rate, absence from school, outpatient visits, asthma exacerbation, oral prednisolone or β-agonist usage and hospitalization.
Conclusion: Short-course of herbal mixture this traditional herbal mixture, starting at the onset of signs of a viral respiratory tract infection in children with intermittent asthma, reduced cough and nights awakening. Further studies should be done to determine the most effective herbal admixture, as well as dose and duration of treatment.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

Ahmadi M, Moosavi S, Zakeri S. 2013. Comparison of the effect of honey and diphenhydramine on cough alleviation in 2-5-year-old children with viral upper respiratory tract infection. J Gorgan Univ Med Sci, 15:8-13.
Avecina A. 1991. Ghanoon in Medicine. Tehran, Iran: Soroush Co, 2:196-197.
Barnes PM, Bloom B, Nahin RL. 2008. Complementary and alternative medicine use among adults and children; United States, 2007. Natl Health Stat Report, 10:1-23.
Benito M, Jorro G, Morales C, Peláez A, Fernández A. 1996. Labiatae allergy: systemic reactions due to ingestion of oregano and thyme. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol, 76:416-418.
Chang TT, Huang CC, Hsu CH. 2006. Clinical evaluation of the Chinese herbal medicine formula STA‐1 in the treatment of allergic asthma. Phytother Res, 20:342-347.
Clark CE, Arnold E, Lasserson TJ, Wu T. 2010. Herbal interventions for chronic asthma in adults and children: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Prim Care Respir J, 19:307-314.
Clement YN, Williams AF, Aranda D, Chase R, Watson N, Mohammed R, Stubbs O, Williamson D. 2005. Medicinal herb use among asthmatic patients attending a specialty care facility in Trinidad. BMC Complement Altern Med, 5: 3.  
Cukic V, Lovre V, Dragisic D. 2011. Sleep Disorders in Patients with Bronchial Asthma. Materia Socio-Medica, 23:235-237
Dehdari S, Hajimehdipoor H. 2018. Medicinal Properties of Adiantum capillus-veneris Linn. In Traditional Medicine and Modern Phytotherapy: A Review Article. Iran J Public Health, 47:188-197.
Fugh-Berman A. 2000. Herb-drug interactions. The Lancet, 355:134-138.
Houssen ME, Ragab A, Mesbah A, El-Samanoudy, AZ, Othman G, Moustafa AF, Badria FA. 2010. Natural anti-inflammatory products and leukotriene inhibitors as complementary therapy for bronchial asthma. Clin Biochem, 43:887-890.
Huntley A, Ernst E. 2000. Herbal medicines for asthma: a systematic review. Thorax, 55:925-929.
Javadi B, Sahebkar A, Emami SA. 2017. Medicinal Plants for the Treatment of Asthma: A Traditional Persian Medicine Perspective. Curr Pharm Des, 23:1623-1632.
Jorjani L. 1992. Zakhireh kharazmshahi. Bonyade Farhang Iran, Tehran: 101-174.
Kliegman RM, Behrman RE, Jenson HB, Stanton BM. 2007. Nelson textbook of pediatrics e-book. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Ma X, Ma X, Ma Z, Wang J, Sun Z, Yu W, Li F, Ding J.  2014. Effect of Hyssopus officinalis L. on inhibiting airway inflammation and immune regulation in a chronic asthmatic mouse model. Exp Ther Med, 8:1371-1374.
Naik SR, Bhagat S, Shah PD, Tare AA, Ingawale D, Wadekar RR. 2013. Evaluation of anti-allergic and anti-anaphylactic activity of ethanolic extract of Zizyphus jujuba fruits in rodents. Rev bras farmacogn, 23:811-818.
Niimi A. 2011. Cough and asthma. Curr Respir Med Rev, 7:47-54.
Ottolini MC, Hamburger EK, Loprieato JO, Coleman RH, Sachs HC, Madden R, Brasseux C. 2001. Complementary and alternative medicine use among children in the Washington, DC area. Ambul Pediatr, 1:122-125.
Passalacqua G, Bousquet PJ, Carlsen KH, Kemp J, Lockey RF, Niggemann B, Pawankar R, Price D, Bousquet J. 2006. ARIA update: I—Systematic review of complementary and alternative medicine for rhinitis and asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol, 117:1054-1062.
Paul IM, Beiler J, McMonagle A, Shaffer ML, Duda L, Berlin CM. 2007. Effect of honey, dextromethorphan, and no treatment on nocturnal cough and sleep quality for coughing children and their parents. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med, 161:1140-1146.
Philp JC, Maselli J, Pachter LM, Cabana MD. 2012. Complementary and alternative medicine use and adherence with pediatric asthma treatment. Pediatrics, 129:e1148-e1154.
Pitetti R, Singh S, Hornyak D, Garcia SE, Herr S. 2001. Complementary and alternative medicine use in children. Pediatr Emerg Care, 17:165-169.
Roohi Broujeni H, Ganji F, Roohi Broujeni P. 2009. The effect of combination of Zingeber and Althea officinalis extracts in acute bronchitis-induced cough. J Shahrekord Univ Med Sci, 10:38-43.
Saklani A, Kutty SK. 2008. Plant-derived compounds in clinical trials. Drug Discov Today, 13:161-171.
Saller R, Beschorner M, Hellenbrecht D, Bühring M. 1990. Dose-dependancy of symptomatic relief of complaints by chamomile steam inhalation in patients with common cold. Eur J Pharmacol, 183:728-729.
Shergis JL, Wu L, Zhang AL, Guo X, Lu C, Xue CC. 2016. Herbal medicine for adults with asthma: a systematic review. J Asthma, 53:650-659.
Slader CA, Reddel HK, Jenkins CR, Armour CL. 2006. Complementary and alternative medicine use in asthma: who is using what? Respirology, 11:373-387.
Srivastava JK, Shankar E, Gupta S. 2010. Chamomile: a herbal medicine of the past with a bright future. Mol Med Report, 3:895-901.
Strunk RC, Sternberg AL, Bacharier LB, Szefler SJ. 2002. Nocturnal awakening caused by asthma in children with mild-to-moderate asthma in the childhood asthma management program. J Allergy Clin Immunol, 110:395-403.
Sutherland ER. 2005. Nocturnal asthma: underlying mechanisms and treatment. Curr Allergy Asthma Rep, 5: 161-167.
Swaroop K, Anbu J, Ashwini A, Sumithra M, Sathish R. 2012. Influence of ethanolic leaf extract of Sargassum wightii and Adiantum capillus on histamine induced asthma in animal model. Int J Pharm Pharm Sci, 4:121-123.
Valli G, Giardina E-GV. 2002. Benefits, adverse effects and drug interactionsof herbal therapies with cardiovascular effects. J Am Coll Cardiol, 39:1083-1095.
Wen MC, Wei CH, Hu ZQ, Srivastava K, Ko J, Xi ST, Mu DZ, Du JB, Li GH, Wallenstein S, Sampson H, Kattan M, Li XM. 2005. Efficacy and tolerability of antiasthma herbal medicine intervention in adult patients with moderate-severe allergic asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol, 116:517-524.
Zhang T, Srivastava K, Wen MC, Yang N, Cao J, Busse P, Birmingham N, Goldfarb J, Li XM. 2010. Pharmacology and immunological actions of a herbal medicine ASHMITM on allergic asthma. Phytother Res, 24:1047-1055.
Ziment I, Tashkin DP. 2000. Alternative medicine for allergy and asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol, 106:603-614.
Avicenna Journal of Phytomedicine
Volume 9, Issue 2
March and April 2019
Pages 126-133

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics